5. What discussions has the Counsel General had with other law officers regarding the impact of the Transport Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill on the devolution settlement? OQ58668

Thank you for the question. The Bill and its impacts in Wales are being urgently assessed by my officials. I am extremely concerned, again, by the lack of engagement on this Bill before introduction, and the limited information available on its content.

I'm grateful to the Counsel General for that response. It is, of course, a forced labour Bill. It takes away freedoms and it takes away rights from people, and acts in a way that is incompatible, I would argue, with our expectations and our values in a free and open and democratic society. It is also at odds with the values that we, on this side of the Chamber, have certainly held dear throughout the period of devolved Government. The Welsh Government's social partnership Bill, which is being delivered by our colleague the Deputy Minister is something that paints a very different vision of the future for industrial relations, and for enhancing people's rights and underpinning people's freedoms. But it is, of course, a matter of great concern that the Welsh Government has again been unsighted on another piece of UK legislation. It may be useful, Counsel General, if you could publish a list of all the engagements between the United Kingdom Government and the Welsh Government, at ministerial and official level, for us to understand exactly what engagement has taken place in the development of this piece of pernicious legislation. 

Thank you for the supplementary question. Of course, we will be monitoring very carefully what happens. I understand the Second Reading has been delayed. I had been reading through the Bill. I actually have a copy of it here. It is quite difficult to see how exactly it might work. Maybe that's why it is slowing down in the process. Another ill-thought-out, ideologically driven piece of legislation. It has, as I said, got very little information on it. It does, of course, then create a base for further and a lot of powers being transferred into the secondary legislation process. That further limits our ability to assess and scrutinise the Bill's rights.

As a matter of principle, we just do not think the Government should work to—. Well, our approach is one of social partnership—one of positive and progressive engagement. We believe that governments should work to resolve industrial disputes collaboratively, rather than seeking to impose their will through the reduction of workers' rights. As a former trade union lawyer for 30 years of my life, imposing tighter restrictions on trade unions is highly regressive, and the Bill is just another unwarranted attack on the rights of workers to take legitimate industrial action. I think you have to see this legislation within other regressive legislation that seeks to restrict civil liberties and freedoms that we've come to enjoy.

So, we will be making it very clear to the UK Government that we oppose the Bill in the strongest of terms and that officials are working to find out more about the substance and timings of the Bill, and we will be expressing our full range of concerns to the Department for Transport.